Photo courtesy of Stonehill Athletics
Recent graduate Brandon Twitty when the Skyhawks faced Providence College Friars.
By Desmond Bernal
As a kid, Brandon Twitty had a dream to play basketball at a professional level after watching his favorite basketball player, Allen Iverson.
“At the age of five or six, I would ask my dad what does Allen Iverson do off the basketball court and my dad would say he gets paid to play basketball,” Twitty said.
This conversation with his father sparked a drive and vision for Twitty to play basketball and get paid doing it.
Twitty created a strong resume for himself during his time at Stonehill and proved to be a key asset for the men’s basketball team.
The 6-foot-2 guard averaged a career 11.9 points per game and finished his career at Stonehill with 1,246 points.
Twitty became an effective scorer shooting 44.6 percent from the floor, and 41.6 percent from 3-point range.
Twitty said that Stonehill taught him how to battle through uncomfortable situations whether it was dealing with injuries or balancing athletics and school.
“I got used to being uncomfortable - adapting to a new environment,” Twitty said.
Twitty also said that his time at Stonehill will help him when he goes out into the real world.
“I went in as an 18-year-old freshman and left as a 22-year-old man,” Twitty said.
As his senior year concluded, Twitty said he started to put some highlights together to get his name out.
“I put together a highlight tape and sent it out to a few coaches, a coach in Greece, Finland, and Romania,” Twitty said.
He garnered the attention of many coaches from all over, but due to the pandemic, many of the teams did not have space and money to add players.
There one was one team that did and reached out to Twitty. That was the Sligo All-Stars of Ireland.
Two other Stonehill alums played basketball in Ireland: Andre Tongo‘12, and Brian Hamor‘13.
“They [Sligo All-Stars] were familiar with Stonehill so through that connection they reached out to Coach Kraus, who then relayed the message over to me,” Twitty said about getting the opportunity to earn a spot.
One thing that was on his mind when thinking about playing overseas was a language barrier; fortunately, many people in Ireland speak English.
Twitty, a two-time captain on the men’s basketball team, hopes to bring the leadership skills he learned on the court and in the classroom.
“I look to be myself more than anything and welcoming to everyone on the team,” Twitty said.
Twitty is not only trying to be a leader on the court but off the court as well. He coaches U18 boys and U19 girls basketball teams.
Due to COVID, there were fewer coaches, so it became an opportunity to learn how to lead a group on his own, he said.
Twitty is excited to adapt to the new change and blessed to have the opportunity to keep playing what he loves.
“It has been my dream and vision to be paid to play basketball - I couldn’t be more blessed and thankful to have this opportunity.”
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